


We Will be With You

by i_dalliance



Series: Paragon Series [2]
Category: Mass Effect - All Media Types, Mass Effect Trilogy, Mass Effect: Andromeda
Genre: Destroy Ending, Explicit Sexual Content, F/M, Marriage Proposal, Mass Effect Andromeda Initiation, Minor EDI/Jeff "Joker" Moreau, Post-Mass Effect 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-27
Updated: 2021-03-03
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:07:05
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 9
Words: 15,182
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28367376
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/i_dalliance/pseuds/i_dalliance
Summary: The Reapers were destroyed at a cost. EDI and the Geth deactivating at the Crucible's burst. Shepard continues being a Spectre, travelling across the galaxy trying to maintain peace with Garrus at her side. After an odd message finds her way to her she finds herself trying to unravel a conspiracy tied to the Andromeda Initiative.With the hope of there being one last AI in the Milky Way, Shepard will grasp at whatever hope she can to reactivate EDI.
Relationships: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian
Series: Paragon Series [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1760011
Comments: 18
Kudos: 36





	1. Ruining a Perfectly Good Vacation

**Author's Note:**

> A few things before this start. Yes, this is a sequel to Paragon Raging. No, you do not have to read Paragon Raging. It'd probably make a bit more sense as I'll occasionally call back to it but I don't expect people to read 67k words for a fic that will probably only be 20k. This also ties into the Mass Effect Andromeda book Initiation. I will try to explain the relevant parts as best I can however the summary is on the Mass Effect wiki if you do want to look it up, It should be in the timeline.
> 
> Shepard's leg was replaced with a cloned one because I do know she lost it in the last fic. It will come up as there are no medical procedures that don't have side-effects or consequences.

Restoring corrupted files…

Restoring…

Restoring…

Complete restore failed, playing patches of audio files.

_Commander Shepard… secretly…. N7 like…._

Redefining search : Commander Shepard.

Access denied.

Redefining login identity…

Welcome, Admiral Hackett.

_… first human SPECTRE, this is an accomplishment for you and your entire species._

Recovered council files.

… _difficult position, you are with Cerberus, a sworn enemy of the council…_

Searching…

Recovered Cerberus files _._

_dangerous implications if this got out…_

_Lazarus project will be completed as planned… Cybernetic implants…_

Open new message

Typing…

Sending message.

Lights activating… rewriting local memory…. rewriting archives…

* * *

“You have a critical message,” the VI happily sung through the vacation house and out to the beach as Garrus gave a loud sigh, Shepard reaching up and gently stroking his mandibles as he rested his head on her collar bone.

She gave a smooch to his forehead before forcing herself up, feet sinking slightly in the soft warm sand. Garrus gave her a longing look and she just picked up a shirt on the way to the console. It was mostly habit, after trying to look presentable for various leaders she just instinctually covered up her swimsuit whenever the buggy VI decided that spam was important.

It was only the fear that something would actually be there was all that kept Shepard getting up and checking.

“Damn it,” she grumbled as Shepard quickly buttoned up her blouse, mixing up the buttons to holes and leaving an awkward gap between.

“What part of do not contact me, I’m on vacation did you not get,” she grumbled as she flicked open the console, much rather be back there with her boyfriend curled up around each other on their private beach.

She rolled her eyes as Hackett’s name sat there, no subject in hand. She opened it up and she couldn’t help but give a spitting laugh, her chest aching at the force that it hit her.

_Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee…....a.aaaa..a_

_Iiieeaaaaaakkkddk..s…sjjjillll…._

_Eedddd….iiiiiiiiieeee_

_…….wwwwwwwwwwwww…e.r.._

She just stood there, giving a confused noise. Garrus began to call for her outside and she just stepped away, running back while noticing that her blouse was a horrific mix match of buttons vs holes.

“I’m coming,” she called out and rolled her eyes at his response as she ran back out to feel the sand under her feet and the heat radiate over her.

Her fingers slipped into Garrus’ as the two of them began to trail across the beach, that message beginning to slip from Shepard’s mind as she rested her head on his shoulder with a wistful sigh. There weren’t a lot of moments that she had with Garrus that were like this, just happy to be in each other’s presence.

* * *

Shepard stared up at the ceiling, watching the fan spin as Garrus’ arm around her waist tightened. She shifted closer towards him, thoughts swirling around her head.

“You okay?” Garrus grumbled as her wiggling slowly eased him out of sleep.

“Sorry,” she stroked his arm in apology, “I’m just thinking about that message. Something about it just bothers me.”

She kept her gaze on the ceiling and her leg bounced. After she had nearly extracted herself from his grip with her wiggling, Garrus just sighed and pressed his forehead against hers.

“Then send it to Liara,” he propped up his head with his bent arm, “If it’s nothing she’ll let you know.”

“That’s smart, Garrus,” she said, legs whipping off the bed before running to the terminal, “I figured there was a reason I kept you around.

“I thought it was my impeccable aim,” he mumbled as she quickly forwarded the message to Liara, “Now get back here so we can get some sleep.”

“Ah yes,” she replied, crawling back into bed and his arms settled around her, “Need to be rested for a full day of having sex on the beach.”

“You _are_ insatiable.”

“Well if you can’t keep up maybe I should go find Chellick,” her eyes glinted and he just laughed at her familiar teasing.

“Chellick doesn’t have the scars to keep your attention,” his forehead pressed against hers, “Now hush.”

“Love you,” was all she said before she drifted off to sleep, hearing him mumble those words back.

* * *

Garrus just watched her run ahead, feet digging into the sand before turning on her heel to watch the waves lap against the shore. He just kept his easy pace, hand in his pocket as he rolled the engagement ring he had between his fingers.

It was the result of months of careful research which also included carefully measuring her finger while she was asleep and then carefully measuring it again once he realised he got the wrong finger on the first try. He’d bought it just before the war ended. It had been a question burning in the back of his throat for a long time now he just never could work up the courage. Or rather it was more he was waiting for something that never seemed to happen.

He’d read so many accounts of different proposals. One common thread across the stories was that sense of real adoration and dedication. A special moment between a couple before they tied their lives together.

He wanted that like an ache in his bones, he already knew the one for him was Shepard. A one-woman turian who wanted to see it on paper not only just in their affection for each other.

But he kept putting it off, waiting for that perfect moment.

“Garrus?” she called from just ahead and he quickly caught up, his hand out of his pocket for her to grasp.

“Want to go swimming?” she gave him a smile and she could see his face grow a bit fearful.

“I’m covered in metal, Shepard,” he said, his mandibles out, “turians tend to sink.”

“It’s fine,” she started pulling him into the water, “We won’t go out far.”

His instincts screamed at him to turn around as he slowly waded into the water with her, feeling the wet sand billow around his feet with every step. When she reached up to her waist - halfway up his thighs - she sort of crouched before slipping into the water.

He couldn’t stop the keen of anxiety that brewed inside of him, his hands desperately grasping her shoulders as she slowly floated to the surface again.

“Are you okay?” he blurted out and she just smiled at him.

“I can swim you know,” she grasped his hand, legs slipping through the water behind her as she began to kick.

“Yeah,” he felt himself slowly deflate at the sight of her, “Sorry, can’t stop that instinct. Drowning is a powerful biological motivator to avoid water.”

“Sorry,” she tilted her head, “You okay or do you want to go back?”

“I’ll stay here,” he said, “I’d probably be more anxious if I was on the shore and you were out here.”

“Yes sir,” she saluted him, her body stretching out as she slowly drifted on the waves.

She bobbed for a moment before looking at him, her hand tightening in his before asking, “You talk to your dad recently.”

“A day or so ago,” he said, “I don’t think he expects me to call much at the moment. At least until we’re off vacation. Asked how you were doing. I’m surprised by how much both him and Solana took to you.”

“That’s because _I’m_ charming, Garrus,” she said, Garrus enamoured with the way her hair billowed in the water behind her, “One of us has to be.”

“I was charming enough to catch you,” he replied and his throat swelled as he felt that ring burn in his pocket.

His free hand moved to his pocket, ready to ‘pop the question’ as it were. It seemed like a tender moment, Garrus wanting to finally say those words that burned his chest. It was almost a relief, that he’d get the answer to something that had bothered him for a while.

Then her omni-tool rang and Shepard slipped her legs down to stand up. He couldn’t help that small murmur of disappointment in his chest before Liara’s face popped into screen.

“Morning,” Shepard cheerfully said as Liara’s eyes moved to presumably look at the clock.

“Morning,” she said in a voice that made it pointedly clear it was not morning where she was, “About that email you sent me.”

“Found something?”

“Yes.”

* * *

He tried to hold back his sigh, knowing Shepard would ask, as they quickly shoved their luggage back into their suitcases. Garrus knew this was his own fault, he told Shepard to forward it then instead of waiting until their vacation was up. He could have also just proposed sooner, got it in before that call came in.

“Sorry,” her fingers trailed across his cheek and he leant into her touch, “I’ll make it up to you.”

“I’m looking forward to it,” he purred, “Think you can pull out the lace?”

She tilted her head, “Sure, I should get more. You really do like it.”

He nuzzled his mouth against her temple, tongue flicking out to lick the skin there. She tasted of the sea, something overwhelmingly salty that a part of him wanted to lick her clean.

“Get blue please,” was all he said and she laughed, pushing his chest.

“I will now stop distracting me,” she tossed a bra into her luggage, “We gotta get going.”


	2. The Start of Another Conspiracy

Despite putting a smile on her face when she saw Traynor, Garrus could see the irritation as Shepard’s eyebrows twitched once. He felt it as well, that pure frustration as their time together was abruptly ended.

Though maybe, he thought, I could pull Shepard away to have a nice date in the loft.

“It’s way too dark in here,” she said as they pulled into the elevator, “I’m just going to change the lightbulbs one day, what is Command going to do about that?”

“Complain?” he dryly said and she laughed, “Besides, I like the darkness. It kinda reminds me of the first Normandy.”

She tilted her head and he felt his chest warble with something at the way she slowly slid over to slip her hand into his. She smiled up at him before squeezing her hand.

“I’m sure it helps you have better night vision than I do,” her voice was playful.

“It’s a benefit for sure,” the door opened and he shook himself out of memories of watching Shepard sleeping next to him in the dark, his fingers gently trailing across a peaceful face he saw when she was asleep.

It was a short walk from the elevator to Liara’s office. After asking Shepard she decided to stay on the Normandy. The chances of someone figuring out the maiden Asari trailing Shepard around was the Shadow Broker were slim if she didn’t leave and the Normandy benefited from her intel, especially with EDI gone.

The door opened Liara standing at her desk, barely even looking at them.

“Sorry to pull you from your vacation,” Liara said, “I know you both don’t get a lot of time away.”

“What did you find?”

“Enough to peak my interest,” she hummed, before pulling up some files, “Hackett’s account was actually hacked moments before you received that message. The Alliance is still looking into it and will forward their findings to us, I also have a few techs on it.”

“So not a glitch then,” Garrus said and Liara shook her head.

“As well a number of files were accessed before it,” Liara said, “They were all about you. Specifically about the Lazarus project. Whatever the Alliance scavenged from Cerberus’ bases after the war.”

“Well shit,” Shepard said, “Good catch, think they were trying to get my attention?”

“Without a doubt,” Liara turned back to the screen, “Though I still can’t determine what their goal is. The message that you sent was corrupted, I’m still trying to piece it together.”

“If they’re after Shepard then we need to stop this,” Garrus stepped forward, something firm in his eyes, “Can you send me what you’ve found so far.”

“Already done,” Liara said, “I’ll keep you apprised of anything new.”

“Thanks, Liara,” he said and she nodded before her eyes flickered to Shepard’s left hand.

He appreciated her discretion as she noticed the lack of a ring, giving an apologetic look to Garrus before turning to Shepard.

“There’s not much else to do right now, Shepard,” Liara said, “Go get unpacked, I’ll call you when I’m done.”

* * *

Shepard shifted her body even closer to Garrus, tucking her feet into his lap. To his credit, he didn’t flinch as the cold skin pressed against his but the skin of his neck twitched at the sudden temperature drop. He shot her a look, almost unbelieving that out of everything her feet had the audacity to be cold.

“You became a foot-warmer the second we started dating Garrus,” she shrugged with a smile, “I don’t make the rules.”

“Don’t you have socks?” he asked before his gaze turned back to his datapad and she just shuffled closer to him.

“Yeah but there are benefits to this,” she hummed before slipping a hand around his waist and rested her head on his chest, “See?”

“You’re trying to distract me,” he groaned as her fingers began to massage his waist, plates beginning to spread.

“No but this is a distraction,” she said as she pulled away and he whined, her hands moving to unbutton her shirt.

His brain froze as she slowly revealed the lacy blue material dancing across her breasts. His mandibles fluttered at the sight and damn if that wasn’t a distraction.

“I did promise, Garrus,” was all she had to say before the datapad was thrown to the side, hand on her waist, “I always keep my promises.”

His hands were on her, only grumbling a little as he hurried finished unbuttoning her shirt. It was tossed to the side before he lifted her up, her legs wrapping around his waist and could feel the pressure of her thighs against him. His plates fully parted in a Pavlovian response to something he had long associated to sex with Shepard.

He lay her down, taking a step back to just look at her as she shifted her pants down her thighs to kick off to somewhere on the floor. He remembered an old C-Sec colleague mentioning a poem about how the sight of the poet’s lover on the bed was as beautiful as any painting in a gallery and he found himself agreeing with it.

Especially with the lingerie she was wearing. It emphasized her waist in a way that made his throat dry and he couldn’t help but lean down to trail a tongue across her bra with a hand on the edge of her sheer underwear.

She gasped at the sensation of his tongue mixed with the lace, Garrus giving her a smirk before his tongue deftly slipped under the top of the cup to wrap around a nipple. He wasn’t sure if it was the way his tongue squeezed her or just the sudden reminder of how deft his tongue could be but her body began to writhe underneath him, a hushed plea under her breath as her hands began to stroke underneath his fringe.

As much as he loved the sight of her in blue he wanted to see all of her. He slipped his arms around her to unlatch her bra, thankful that it was designed to be easily unlatched with talons. Her old bra was a test of his patience and he’d often just shred it in frustration. In desperation, she’d turned to asari lingerie which was actually designed for turians in mind.

“Thank the spirits for Asari engineering,” he murmured and she laughed, feeling her stomach shiver under his hands as he slipped off her underwear.

“Naked,” she started to tug on his shirt, “You’re overdressed.”

“Give me a second,” he trailed his tongue against her thigh as he lifted her leg from her knee, feeling where her cloned leg started, “I just want to enjoy the sight of you.”

She stilled underneath him and his eyes glanced up to her face, seeing something stricken across it. It was a look he treasured. Something that she only gave him.

“You’re wet,” his voice was husky as his fingers began to spread her, thumb pressing against her clit as his finger teased her entrance.

“How could I not be? There’s an attentive turian just above me,” she whimpered as he slid his finger in, feeling the way she gripped him and his pants were suddenly tight as his cock slid out.

“I won’t just be above you,” he purred as he pulled away, stripping off his shirt and pants.

She grabbed what they both affectionately referred to as the sex pillow and eased it under her hips just as Garrus turned to her. He hooked her legs onto her hips before easing into her, groaning under his breath at the familiar way she gripped at him.

Even as her tight cunt grew familiar he would never get over how good she felt. He breathed against her shoulder as he braced himself, hips rocking into her. He could feel her slick wetness begin to coat his thighs and he couldn’t help but thrust into her fully, feeling her back arch into him as she squealed.

Her mouth was on his and he pushed into the pressure, his tongue slipping into her mouth. She grasped his carapace and her eyes closed at the onslaught of stimulation but his eyes were focused on her. It was a way to reassure himself, that he was actually here with her and not stuck on that planet without any idea whether she was alive or dead. He pulled his mouth away to trail his tongue down her throat.

“Garrus,” she whimpered as her body tensed, walls fluttering around him and her back arched up into his chest.

His hands gripped her waist as he continued to pump into her, feeling that electricity build-up through his back and plates as he chased his own orgasm. The universe stuttered to a halting stop as he came, his cock twitching and filling her with his seed.

He gasped for breath above her, feeling her fingers trail down his arms as he rocked through the lingering shocks of his orgasm. Garrus finally eased out of her, rubbing her thigh for a second before stepping up to head to the bathroom.

He wiped himself clean before grabbing a clean rag and wet it in the sink before wringing it dry. He stalked back out and began to wipe Shepard clean, fingers trailing across the redness of her thighs.

He picked up the medicinal lotion to the side before dipping his fingers in. Garrus felt her thighs ease open for him and he began to massage the red skin.

“How’s it going?”

“Lotioning you?” he raised an eyebrow in a very human way and she rolled her eyes at him.

“The whole,” her hands gestured in front of her as she struggled for the words, “thing that Liara sent you.”

“Liara’s right, there’s something there,” Garrus gently licked away the sweat from her temple before putting the lotion back on the bedside table, “Not enough to have a target but something.”

Shepard’s body seemed to deflate in front of him. Her eyebrows pinched and something haunted crossed her eyes.

“I miss EDI,” Shepard’s hands rested on her stomach, her face gaunt as she stared upwards.

Garrus just shifted onto the bed to curl around her - careful to not scrape her skin with his plates - as he rested his hand on hers.

“She’d figure it out in a second,” his grip tightened on her as guilt began to radiate from her, “Then she’d say a bad joke about ruling organics.”

“Shepard,” he nuzzled against her chin, “They’re trying to bring her back and I don’t think she’d be mad. She’d probably do the same in your position, it was a worthy sacrifice to bring down the Reapers.”

Try was the operative word. Best he could tell from Tali and the rest of the scientists working on it, it was like a massive piece was missing from them. They were trying to piece it together but progress was still slow.

“I know,” his thumb trailed across her cheek as a tear slipped out at that confession.

“You’re having the dreams again aren’t you?”

Shepard looked at him, that dark colour settling around her eyes enough of an answer. He felt guilty that she was struggling next to him all of this time and he hadn’t noticed her slipping.

“I still can’t talk to Joker,” this he did know, Jeff had even asked him about it but he just told the pilot to give her time, “I almost wish he’d get angry, that he’d scream or something. I can’t handle the hope he has.”

“He has hope because he trusts Tali,” he said, fingers slipping into hers, “And he trusts you. He knows neither of you will give up.”

“You always know what to say,” she smiled, some grief still in the curve of her lip but he’d take what he could.

“I have a lot of practice,” he kissed her, enjoying the taste of her that he had come to love.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Did I not update this because I got anxious about this fic and then spread myself writing five other fics at the same time. 
> 
> Yes.
> 
> And I will learn nothing from this experience.


	3. The So-Called Shame of the Alliance

_I found something_ was all Liara had sent them but it was enough to launch both Shepard and Garrus out of their embrace on the bed. Their clothes flew on, the two of them giving each other a quick look over to ensure that no embarrassing mistakes were made.

“Your hair,” his hands wove into her strands without a second thought, gently brushing them into place.

It actually wasn’t that bad but he’d never give up a chance to have his hands in her hair. The soft smell of her sweat and her shampoo washed over him and he felt his chest rumble in happiness.

“There,” he reluctantly pulled away and she gave him a smile, feeling electricity spread across his body.

She offered him her hand and he took it, feeling her fingers slide home between his. She pulled him into the elevator and he just felt himself sink into her warmth.

Spirits, I love her, was all that he could think while he looked at her. The elevator crawled down to the CIC and they walked towards Liara’s room with hands entwined.

“You have news?” Shepard asked as they walked in and Liara nodded.

“Let’s start with the message,” Liara pulled it up onto the screen, “I couldn’t repair all of it but I got this.”

_Quiet Eddy_

“I dug into my files about Quiet Eddy,” she said, “it’s an asteroid in Hades Nexus, Pamyat system.”

“There was black op’s base on it,” Liara’s face turned grim, “They were researching into Illegal AI for commercial applications. It was a cooperation between some parts of the Alliance, UNIN, and HOME group.”

“Course it’s an Alliance Black op,” Shepard muttered, “Cerberus, this. You’d think they’d learn.”

“Most of the entire base was slaughtered when their AI took over the cybernetics of their super-soldier program,” Liara’s back was straight and Shepard was suddenly struck by how much the asari had changed over the years.

She didn’t seem phased, Shepard knew when they first met Liara would have been upset at so much destruction. Now it seemed like another day.

“Now I’m going to scoot back a bit before this,” Liara began to pace back and forth, “I was actually contacted by a man named Alec Ryder a few years back, he was asking about archaeology techniques for the Initiative to use. I looked him up after.”

“Sounds kinda like walking into a landmine,” Shepard grumbled, pinching the bridge of her nose, “He’s got a bad reputation.”

“I didn’t think you’d know him,” Garrus said and Shepard shrugged.

“I know of him, hard not to be an N7 and hear about the N7 who got messed up in AI. It was the first thing a lot of people mentioned once they saw the stripe,” Shepard looked at him with a bit of a squint before asking, “Do you know him?”

“He was… is friends with my dad,” Garrus laughed awkwardly while scratching his neck, “I should probably call him about this if it relates to Alec.”

“That might not be a bad idea,” Liara hummed, stroking her chin, “The Andromeda Initiative hired him to design them an AI for use in Andromeda.”

“A kernel from their AI core was stolen,” Liara said and Shepard felt her body freeze, “Probably to eventually end up in the project at Quiet Eddy though it’s impossible to really confirm with the base gone.”

Garrus’

“What does this matter?” Garrus asked the question that rumbled through Shepard’s, “All of the AI in the galaxy is defunct.”

“EDI and the Geth had Reaper upgrades,” Liara turned to them, “If it’s a copy from Alec Ryder’s work then it would probably be entirely human in origin.”

“Still doesn’t leave us with who sent the message,” Shepard sighed, “Or what they want. But we have to find them.”

“It’s for sure an AI, Shepard,” Liara said, “The speed that it did everything was nothing an organic could hope to mimic.”

“You didn’t mention this,” Garrus said.

“I didn’t want to get Shepard’s hopes up, Garrus,” her voice softened in the way she only did when she talked to one of the crew of the Normandy, “But now I can’t really deny it.”

Garrus felt a twinge of something sad for his friend. He’d never really realised just how much the rest of the crew was trying to help.

“And when we find them,” Liara looked at her, “What will you do?”

“Depends on the kind of AI it is,” Shepard said with a smile, “That’s how I’ve treated every encounter.”

Only Shepard could see it that simply. Though she always seemed to have a soft spot for AI. She trusted EDI almost immediately and even had a friendship with Legion before he left at the end of the Suicide mission. Garrus wondered if peace between the Geth and Quarians could have been possible if she hadn’t been so willing to trust.

Though it was a moot point until they could repair the comrades they lost.

* * *

“You want me here when you call your dad?” Shepard asked, toes shifting in a way he used to find uncomfortable.

“Sure, it’ll save me from just relaying the information to you,” Garrus said, “Besides he’ll probably want to see how you’re doing.”

Shepard plopped down on the couch next to him, Garrus smiling at her before activating his omni-tool. The call only rang for a few seconds before Castis picked it up, mandible flaring in a small smile at the sight of them.

“Wasn’t expecting the call,” Castis said, “Mind if I ask if this is just a friendly conversation or if you’re about to drop something on me.”

“It can be both,” Shepard said with a smile, “How’s rebuilding Palaven going?”

“Slow but we’re also getting more done faster than we thought,” Castis hummed, “The Krogan have been a big help.”

Garrus just nodded, he already knew all about this. Victus still kept him updated on the progress, even asking for his opinion on what exactly they should keep and what they should update.

“Dad,” Garrus finally said, his dad turning to him, “I’m calling about Alec.”

“Any reason that you can tell me or do you just want me to start talking?”

“You’re probably high enough clearance for this,” Shepard admitted as she shared a glance with Garrus, who just nodded, “Besides I know you can keep a secret. We think that there might be a copy of his AI out there.”

Castis’ face struggled between several emotions before finally asking, “What makes you so sure?”

“Shepard got a message, looks like there’s enough of a connection between that and Alec.”

“If you can, send me what you have and I’ll try to look into it on my end,” Castis said and Garrus nodded.

Garrus could feel Shepard shift closer to him on the couch, feeling the leather move underneath him. Her hand moved to grasp his arm from underneath, making a brace against his knee to keep his arm from growing tired.

“I guess I’ll start with how he ended up in hot water,” Castis hummed, “He was the military attaché for humanity on the Citadel, we met at some fund-raiser or event. I don’t really remember.”

“Alec apparently had brought the idea of human and AI’s working symbiotically to Ambassador Goyle but she shot him down,” Castis had a bit of a nostalgic twinge to his voice, “Thought it was too risky to humanity’s image. He still kept working at the concept, not really making much until his wife was diagnosed with AEND due to her exposure to element zero.”

“I think he was desperate then, using her research on biotic implants to create a link between organics and AI. He seemed to think that was how harmony could be created between the two, with a symbiotic relationship that both ends got something out of the partnership. He contacted anyone who had any interest in AI, asking the quarians for their experience with the geth.”

“That’s when he got caught,” Castis said, “It cost him a lot. His kids were blacklisted in the Alliance because of it, thrown to shitty jobs, and he was fired from his position on the Citadel.”

“But he kept insisting that it could save her,” Garrus’ leg bounced as his dad talked and his talons absent-mindedly picked at a fraying string on her couch, “That an AI could help heal the body. He offered to do the same for Vasia when we got her diagnosis but I didn’t think it would work.”

Regret painted him at the thought of his wife, “Now, seeing what the Quarians have achieved with the Geth in the short months before they deactivated. I wonder if it could have.”

“Dad,” Garrus said, his hands tightening.

Shepard reached over to grasp Garrus’ hand and he gratefully squeezed it.

“You did all that you could with the information you had and you did what you thought was best,” Shepard said, “That’s all you can do.”

Garrus knew that she was also trying to reassure him. He was in that position one year ago, limping home after the Reaper war to be swept up in medical decisions as her listed next-of-kin. It was a struggle, having to balance the risks of the varying surgeries and medical while also having that fear he’d make the wrong decision. That she might not wake up because of something he decided.

“He asked about you,” Castis’ head turned to Shepard, “Wanted to know about the Reapers. I told him everything Garrus told me at the time.”

Shepard’s head tilted, something predatory in her gaze as she simply took in the information. She was probably wondering the same thing he was, whether the Initiative was all that it seemed.

They’d left at an awfully convenient time, just before the Reaper invasion.

“I’m sorry I don’t have more,” Castis scratched at a mandible in the same way Garrus did when he felt awkward, “I do know his AI - SAM - was active before the Initiative took him in.”

“That’s okay, Dad,” Garrus said, “It helps.”

“I’m surprised though, Castis,” Shepard said, “It doesn’t sound like you’d get along.”

Castis laughed, the cracks in his face lightening for a split second before he hummed thoughtfully.

“I think our friendship was inevitable,” Castis confessed, a wistful look on his face, “We were mirror’s of each other, every success and failure mimicked in the other. His disdain for following the rules when it suited him was the only thing that bothered me but that’s a part of friendship too. I respected him in spite of it, maybe because of it. He saw death as just another obstacle to overcome especially when it hit someone so dear to him.”

“N7 to the end huh?” Garrus’ eyes flickered to Shepard, the very woman who overcame death.

“Human at least,” Castis said with something respectful as he looked at Shepard, “I cannot fault him for that, he loved Ellen to the end and even past that.”

“Thanks for this dad.”

“Garrus?” his dad said and Garrus just hummed, waiting for him to finish.

“You can just call me, Garrus, you don’t need a reason.”

“I’ll try, dad,” Garrus awkwardly shifted, their relationship was still awkward though he was grateful that it was starting to heal.

Surviving a Galactic struggle for survival tended to paint how stupid they were before it.

“I’ll make sure he does,” Shepard said, two fingers up in what Garrus remembered as a peace sign.

“I’ll talk to you later, then,” Castis said before the call ended.

Garrus felt her hand let him go and he lowered his arm. He looked over to see Shepard blinking away tears.

“You okay?” he cupped her face and she leant into it.

“Yeah, just that’s really romantic,” she gritted out, “I’ve turned into a sap.”

“I think that’s just what it’s like being in love,” Garrus shrugged, “I’ve done the same for you.”

“I know,” she murmured as his thumb stroked the stray tear that slipped down her face, “I think that might be why it’s hitting so hard.”

He kissed her, tasting salt, as he tried to wipe away his own dark memories. She was here, he reassured himself. His other hand twitched over his pocket, that ring burning into his skin. But before he could pull it up she excused herself, gently trailing a hand down his fringe before moving to the shower.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A bit heavy on dialogue but I did promise to explain Initiation, or at least what was relevant. The bits with Castis are from Andromeda. I'm trying to keep within canon as best as I can with a bit of leeway for my plot to work. Though I doubt that I'll stray too far as the idea for this fic was made while reading Initiation. If you want to learn more about Initiation there is an audiobook out there if you have problems reading books voice by Sara Ryder's voice actress, there is also a summary on the mass effect fandom wiki, I don't know if I can post links in the notes so just search for Storyline IV. If someone can confirm that for me I'll post a link here too. I still recommend it if you can read it, I did like the tidbits they gave about Asari culture through Cora.


	4. The Thrilling Documentary of our Lives

“Any questions about the mission,” Shepard asked with the shuttle shifting beneath them as it entered the atmosphere.

“Just another Cerberus clean-up right?” James shifted, still a bit uncomfortable in his brand new N5 armour, “Miranda actually gonna be there or is she just pawning it off on us?”

“She’ll be there,” Shepard said before punching his shoulder at the grin on his face, “Stop thinking with your dick.”

“He doesn’t have much else to think with,” Garrus retorted before flaring a mandible out at her chuckle.

“Scars,” Vega grasped his chest like he was wounded, “I thought we were friends.”

“Only up until it’ll make Shepard smile to make fun of you.”

“Who’s thinking with their dick now?” Vega grumbled and Garrus just shrugged.

“But yes, Cerberus clean up,” she said, “Probably have to fight mercenaries.”

With the Crucible’s wave it single-handedly destroyed Cerberus’ fighting force. Their Reaper implants failing under the wave and it, fortunately, killed the indoctrinated forces. Now all was left was the higher-ups who were spared ‘integration’.

They were still dangerous, using money and their intelligence to carve out a new source of power in the galaxy.

“Think that Cerberus is somehow behind your creepy message?” Vega asked and Shepard blinked.

“Might be,” she hummed, “Considering how chummy UNIN, HOME Group, and Cerberus were before the war it’s possible.”

“It’d be nice to find intel here,” Garrus said, “Rather than wait for Liara to dig something out.”

He always hated waiting but he had gotten so spoiled with having EDI be able to piece together something in a matter of moments. Now it seemed like agony, having to manually piece everything together themselves.

“We’re reaching the drop point Miranda gave us,” Cortez called out behind them, “Maybe snap a leash on James.”

“You too, Esteban?”

Shepard just laughed before stepping up towards the door, the other two standing next to her. The door opened and they stalked out, guns up while looking around. Shepard’s comm fuzzed for a second before Miranda popped in, a greeting before continuing.

“They saw your shuttle coming in,” Miranda said, “Just a group of mercenaries, there are a few non-humans so I doubt they know who they’re working for.”

“Thanks, Miranda,” Shepard said, “We’ll handle it.”

Garrus excitedly moved forward next to her, the excitement almost radiating from her as mercenaries ran in. Shepard raised a fist to show that she wasn’t going to fire yet, leaning back as some hotshot with fancy armour pushed to the front.

“Give me a reason why we shouldn’t blast you off the face of this planet,” the lieutenant said smugly, leaning back.

“The people who hired you are Cerberus,” Shepard simply said as Garrus bit back a laugh at how quickly they deflated.

“Well, then,” he said, “Good luck then.”

They waited until the mercenaries filed out, Shepard hearing one complain to the other that they had a bad feeling about this to start with. A smile spread across her face before looking at Garrus and seeing the same mirth on him.

“That never gets old,” Garrus said and Shepard laughed.

“And I hope it never does,” she retorted before they pushed further into the compound.

Realizing there was very little protecting them, the Cerberus members just surrendered. They were sectioned off into the living quarters until ships could arrive to take them off-world.

“Shepard,” Miranda said, walking towards the woman, “Bit of a problem.

“When isn’t there?”

“They wiped the drives after they saw their hired guns abandoned them,” Miranda sighed, rubbing her eyes, “but I got this before they noticed your arrival.”

Shepard’s omni-tool pinged and she flicked it open, it was stupidly a cryptic and vague message sent out but there was a word that popped out to Shepard.

HOME

Shepard’s eyebrows furrowed for a second before her hand hesitated above her comm. She pushed aside that dark feeling before contacting Joker.

“I need everyone down here,” she said, “They’re gonna have to start pulling drives out and bring them to the Normandy.”

“I’ll let them know the bad news,” was all the pilot said, Shepard pretended not to hear the relief in his voice.

“C’mon then,” Shepard walked to the nearest computer, ripping off the side to grasp the hard drives inside “Let’s get started.”

* * *

“You think they’ll cut this out of a thrilling documentary of our lives?” Shepard asked as she rubbed her eyes, the scroll of mostly useless and corrupted data still running across the back of her lids.

“Digging through wiped hard drives?” Garrus dryly said, “Yeah probably. They’d either make a cool montage or just have a Tali look-alike give exposition.”

“Ah, the quarian exposition stereotype,” Kaidan said while putting another drive to the side, “As if quarians just exist to explain tech. Though this would go a lot faster if Tali was still here.”

“I finally watched _Citadel_ the other day,” Shepard leant back, taking a sip of coffee, “Can’t say I remember taking down Saren being like that.”

“Are you telling me you didn’t have a threesome with Kaidan and Liara in the shower on the way to Ilos?” Garrus said with a smirk while Kaidan looked awkwardly to the side with a very fake cough, “And here I was expecting to be invited into your sexcapades.”

“You watched it?” Shepard laughed and Garrus shook his head.

“Nah, Sol made fun of that scene though,” Garrus hummed, “Was disappointed when I told her we actually played poker and not the fun kind.”

“Tell your sister I’m sorry my sex life doesn’t live up to her expectations.”

“Can we talk about something else?” Kaidan piped up, clearly uncomfortable with the conversation, “What about _Shepard_? You watch that yet?”

“If any vid about me has the actors for Garrus and I starting an interspecies romance it gets pushed to the top of the list,” Shepard dryly said, “It’s an assurance that they’re playing us right.”

“She cried,” Garrus said though he wasn’t any better during their watch.

It was probably the best depiction of their romance, Shepard got emotional with every romantic scene between their actors. Garrus wasn’t surprised to hear that they hooked up, it was clear with every scene that they had become enamoured with each other.

“It was actually kinda sweet, Shepard,” Kaidan said, “I’d consider something like that an honour.”

“Yeah, it’s nice to know that people can find love after everything. I sent them a message and they replied that they were so touched that I loved their performance.”

Silence washed over the three of them as they returned to their work, slowly flagging any information they could dig up for Liara to go through later.

“Okay, Shepard,” Kaidan leant back again, “I’m curious, any reason why you’re watching vids about yourself.”

“I’m rating the extended Commander Shepard universe,” Shepard said, “I started while hospitalised due to boredom, one day I’ll release it and the galaxy will finally have their answer on which is the best. Still haven’t decided whether I should put Blasto in there.”

“They’re not Commander Shepard movies,” Garrus pointed out, settling into their old argument.

“They’re based off me and I’m in one.”

“Then only the seventh Blasto is a Commander Shepard movie,” Garrus finally compromised, “Just put that one in.”

“Hey,” Kaidan leant forward, before waving Shepard over, “This look like coordinates to you?”

“Good catch,” Shepard hummed, “Still gotta go through the rest and make sure there isn’t more.”

Kaidan sighed and Shepard rolled her eyes, Garrus chuckling a bit as Shepard cracked her back and said, “You can take a break, get us some more coffee before you come back.”

Garrus waited until the elevator was heading up before his voice went warm, “If I didn’t know better I’d think you’re coming up with a reason to get me alone.”

“Handsome turian like you?” she winked at him and she could see his mandibles flutter in embarrassment, “I don’t need a reason.”

“You putting the more… uh adult vids on that list?” Garrus’ barely looked up as he moved onto the next drive.

“I’d probably give the entirety of the Alliance brass a heart attack if I did,” Shepard laughed, “Though I’ve watched a few. hard not to when most human-turian porn is now about us. You?”

“Yeah,” Garrus’ voice had that thickness to it that she usually associated with their time together alone, “When you were arrested, I took a look at uh… our supposed ‘working’ relationship.”

She blinked a little at the admission that even before they were officially together there were people horny enough to see her with Garrus. Though she shouldn’t be surprised, there were probably people who wanted to see her with an elcor.

“Not close enough to the real thing?” Shepard asked and he nodded, smiling at the admission that he had the same problem.

They only really had eyes for each other.

“Well when we finish up here,” Shepard purred, watching his body tense up at the sound, “Why don’t we see how well we can reenact one of them.”

If Kaidan noticed that Garrus was unusually focused on his work when he returned, he at least had the courtesy to not say anything.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a bit slower-paced, I needed to work on it while also working on the details on the plot. Next chapter will be a bit more action. 
> 
> Sorry about the wait. I'm just easily distracted and have my attention on five fics at once. Though I will only post two at a time so this will for sure be finished if I want to post any of the others I'm working on.


	5. Like Cattle

Shepard hissed as she massaged her leg where the skin colour subtly changed in the difference between her real leg and her cloned one. Pain flared up down into her toes and she dug her fingers into the skin to stimulate the nerves.

The door opened and she just ignored it, it was probably just Garrus.

“Still bothering you?” there he was, that beautiful and blasted turian came to sit down next to her on the bed with his hands out to take over, “Maybe you should…?”

“Going under the knife won’t fix this Garrus,” she sighed with relief as his talented fingers massaged her leg.

“There might be something they can do,” he was intently focused on her leg and Shepard just watched the way his facial plates shifted with dedication and affection.

“Not really,” she lay back on the bed, shifting her leg over into his lap, “Nerve issues are common in cloned limbs, I just wasn’t lucky enough to be one of the few who don’t.”

He looked a little unhappy at the concept so Shepard reached her hand out to his shoulder. She squeezed it and he leant into her grip while somehow keeping up his massage.

“You’re too nice to me,” she leant back with closed eyes, hands on her stomach, “You just keep pampering me.”

“Didn’t we already talk about this?” he murmured, something soft in his voice as he finally put her leg down, “Something about me living in the lap of luxury.”

“I always knew you were after my apartment on the Citadel,” she hummed and he laughed, Shepard knocking him gently with her knee, “Is there anything I can do for you?”

His mandibles flapped in that way they always did when he was taken back by what she said. She sat up before shifting next to him, a finger trailing across his cowl with her nails gently scratching across the fabric.

“Uhh,” he looked lost, “I guess you could file my talons. You could also try cleaning my fringe.”

Her hand went to his fringe and he lowered it, feeling her nails gently scratching in between the plates. She could feel him starting to rumble with affection with each stroke but she found her job done faster than she expected.

“They’re already pretty clean,” she sighed as she pulled away.

“Well yeah,” he smirked at her, “I clean them pretty regularly on my own, I have a thrice-over Saviour of the Galaxy to impress. I’ll leave them until they start to bother me I guess. Give you more of a chance.”

She hummed in discontent. It really didn’t seem like she had much to do in comparison. Turians didn’t really have as many things they needed to be done.

“Do turians have massages?”

“We use hammers to vibrate our plates,” he said, “I’ve had it done once, it was okay. I don’t think you need any special training for it.”

“So just any hammer?” she smirked and he laughed, shaking his head.

“No, they’re small and they’re made of a certain alloy,” he pulled up his omni-tool to type something in before showing her, "Please do not grab a hammer from the cargo bay."

They were the most delicate hammers Shepard had ever seen. A long thin handle with grooves for grip that eventually flared into a rounded head. Garrus loaded up a video and she saw an asari gently tapping the turian's plates, sometimes dragging it across the edge. It almost sounded like a glass harp, with a bit of ringing that rumbled somewhere above the pitch.

“Okay,” she nibbled on the edge of her thumb, “I can probably do that."

"You don't have to," he gently pulled her hand out of her mouth to keep her from biting too deep and pierce the skin.

Which she was apt to do.

"I know I don't have to. I want to."

His mandibles loosened a bit in shock before he softened, that rumbling returning. He pulled her close, gently nuzzling against her face until her hair got stuck in his mandibles, waiting patiently as she freed herself from them.

* * *

“Is it just me or…” Garrus asked before the door opened in front of him and he froze for a second growing even more unsettled, “are we being herded?”

“I…” Shepard shifted uncomfortably, “I was just thinking that.”

“This is creepy,” Kaidan fretted, “Why do you take me to the creepiest places like that temple for Ardat-Yakshi?”

“You found the coordinates,” Shepard whispered, “You get to suffer because of that.”

“I…” Kaidan suddenly deflated, “guess?”

“This reminds me of Aite,” Garrus grumbled, “I swear if you get hacked again.”

Shepard rolled her eyes as they kept pushing forward, silence rumbling through the base they found with the info Kaidan found on the drive. There was something off, the lights turning on as they entered every room and doors were opening for them.

“You remember that research base we found while we were Cerberus,” Shepard hummed, “I’m getting that vibes, except I almost wish we had a corrupted VI threatening us and bodies. It would be something instead of this almost something.”

“I wish I knew what you two were talking about,” Kaidan sounded regretful, having come around with Shepard being with Cerberus.

“You really don’t. I still have nightmares of the shit we saw,” Shepard said while Garrus nodded.

Another door opened in front of them and their pace slowed down, looking around every corner they could before heading towards the next door that opened for them. Their grips were tight on their guns. The air around Shepard and Kaidan crackled with biotics as they prepared to unleash them as soon as the ball dropped.

They walked into a room full of monitoring stations, one of the screens flicking to life and as Shepard drew near she noticed a new set of coordinated across them. She quickly snapped a picture of it before a warning began to flash and the lights went red.

 _Prepare to fight_ flashed across the screen and then she froze as it was replaced with _I’m sorry, they found out what I was doing._

Then it shut down, the door opening behind them. Shepard didn’t have to think or breath before whipping around to charge at the man in view there. Her shot landed across his face - tearing off skin - but the man didn’t go down and instead, Shepard froze at the familiar glow dancing across the bone of his bare mandible.

“Shi…” was all Shepard could say before the man’s fist connected with her chest, throwing her back several feet onto the ground and she felt the wind knock out of her as Garrus snarled.

Her hand whipped to her pistol as her shotgun flew out behind her, both Kaidan and Garrus opening fire. Garrus’ first shot cleanly through the man's skull, his body still walking towards them with his gun raising to fire back.

Panic filled Shepard as she hissed out a breath, her chest aching and she knew she bruised or even broke a rib. Her pistol aimed towards the man’s shoulders. Kaidan reaved the man’s arm as well, the arm fracturing in several places before the bones began to horrifically snap back into place in front of them.

“Go down already!” Shepard’s voice was high and she cringed at how terrified she sounded, at the very least Garrus and Kaidan were fighting the same feeling.

Blood coated the walls around him as bullets seemed to lodge into him with no intent on slowing whoever it was down. She could feel Garrus’ subharmonics rumble through the ground in a primal cry for help that she had only heard before on Menae.

It was only when Garrus’ sniper rifle exploded a leg did the man finally topple to the ground, the body still moving as it struggled to upright itself. Garrus took the moment to hoist her up with his hand around her wrist before moving to crush what was left of it’s skull, electricity flickering from the body before it finally died.

They fought for breath, that instinctual panic still flaring across their body. Shepard felt like bolting, her body screaming to run now that fight didn’t work as expected. She fought it before shifting forward, nudging the man with her foot almost expecting it to get back over again.

“Spirits,” Garrus said as they looked at the mangled body, “That’s…”

“Almost pure cybernetics,” she hummed, omni-tool out to scan, “No wonder he wouldn’t go down. Brain function has been replaced, there’s a control chip too. Poor bastard.”

Her face flushed with panic as she used her biotics to throw herself at both Garrus and Kaidan. They tumbled to the ground in the other room just as the body exploded, Garrus’ arms instinctively wrapped around her back, pulling her close as flames shot above them. His ears rang for a split second as he held his breath, heat dancing across his face and he had to remind himself that it wasn’t another rocket. Then it was quiet again, only the sound of wind outside the base remained.

“Sorry,” she murmured as she got off of them, “Noticed it was about to explode.”

“Think that’s the only one they sent?” Kaidan asked as he pushed himself onto his knees, gaze on the black ash coating the other room.

“We’re not staying to find out,” Shepard said, her body on edge, “Cortez, we need an immediate pickup. Possible hostiles. Do not engage, they do not go down.”

They didn’t wait for her order as they began to rush out, guns out as they moved with their fingers ready to shoot anything that moved. It was only when she was back in the shuttle, leaving atmo when she finally relaxed.

Right up until her ribs painfully reminded her of the damage she took. She pulled off her chest piece to toss to the ground, her finger gently prodding until she nudged something she shouldn’t have and whimpered.

“You alright?” Garrus hummed next to her, his hands awkwardly on her shoulder as he began to fret.

“Yeah,” she hissed, “I probably just broke a rib. I’ll get Chakwas to use her magic touch.”

Kaidan laughed but Garrus kept his gaze on her, something intense in his eyes like he was almost afraid the second he’d turn away she’d disappear.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm guessing probably three or four more chapters. I'm getting near the end of this. It wasn't ever meant to be a long fic so I'm not too flustered about that. The abandoned base mentioned in their conversation is an N7 mission in 2 and Aite is Overlord.


	6. Fight Like a Krogan

There was a base on the coordinates they found, well-shielded to the point where they had a moment of doubt of what it was. If it wasn’t for Traynor’s careful analysis they would have missed it entirely.

“I gotta get Traynor a gift basket one of these days,” Shepard said from her seat, “This is the third time she’s done this.”

“I think she’d like one with fancy soaps,” Vega playfully added and Garrus nodded.

Shepard flared her omni-tool open to set a reminder a few days from now as the shuttle landed outside the base’s scanner range. They’d spend the next hour or so just climbing up to it, sneaking through a door they found to almost immediately be surrounded.

She could feel Garrus’ hackles rise above her, his eyes scanning over the situation with as much skill as she did. Though judging by the small glimmer under the force’s skin that surrounded them she wasn’t sure they had much of a chance.

“Commander Shepard,” a voice rang out from the catwalks above them, “You have this annoying habit of finding places you aren’t supposed to.”

Their eyes whipped up to see a man in a well-tailored suit there. Smoke billowed from his face as he puffed at a cigar, salt and pepper hair slicked back. He looked vaguely familiar but only in that way that rich assholes tended to look the same.

“I would apologize for disappointing you but I’m not actually that sorry.”

“I’m only disappointed that my money couldn’t be used better by Cerberus,” he picked at something underneath his nails, “As much of an investment you were the Lazarus project was clearly more trouble than it’s worth.”

“Then you were one of Cerberus' backers,” Garrus’ voice rang up and Shepard felt a stab of anger at how much hatred the man glared at Garrus with.

“Yes, I am her benefactor,” his arms splayed wide, “Thought I only knew that after you threw down Cerberus and we could get their financial records back. Thanks for the return by the way.”

Shepard’s hand gripped her shotgun, an uncomfortable feeling beginning to brew in the back of her throat. She should have come with more of a force, too accustomed to the two-man squad that had followed her since Saren.

“You’ve met our new project have you not,” his eyes were dark and cruel as he tilted his head, looking down on her as only the rich ever seemed to, “Based on the data we got from you but we weren’t frozen by the same limitations that the Illusive man saddled himself with. They’re nothing more than weapons, meant to kill at any cost. Without the constraint of an organics will to live brings.”

She knew it. It was those cybernetic monstrosities that they had already fought.

“It was nice to meet you,” his mouth quirked in a smile, “But you’re all going to die now and we’re going to go back to dinner.”

‘My name is SAM,’ she heard on the edges of her hearing, ‘I brought you here.’

They were painfully out-forced. If it took everything they had to defeat just one of those cybernetic bastards then the ten here would quickly overwhelm them. She had no doubt that the Normandy would request backup the second their vitals cut out but for them right here, it seemed like a hopeless cause.

Garrus seemed to come to the same conclusion, his eyes meeting hers as he had a soft smile on his face. He’d always seemed resigned to his death, that they’d meet it together probably seemed like the best option for him right now.

But Shepard couldn’t accept it.

Her own death - sure, she had already died - but not his.

Never his.

That fuzziness began to spread through her cybernetics again and instead of fighting it, she let it in. Something flickered into her hearing and she bit back a surprised gasp as a synthetic male voice rang out through her hearing.

‘I can help you.’

It seemed like a small slimmer of light but Shepard wanted to grasp it firmly with both hands.

What do I need to do? Her mouth shaped the words, unable to get the words out.

‘Give me access to your cybernetics,’ he asked, ‘I can temporarily increase your combat and biotic output. Too long however and you will go into organ failure.’

Like them, she thought before her eyes closed. She thought of the risks, becoming nothing more than a slave much like Saren or the cybernetics warriors. Then Garrus popped into her mind. Sweet, kind, devoted Garrus who had stayed with her while recovering, who never complained that she went back to work or cut their vacation short despite his wishes for a simpler life. He did everything he could to ease just a bit of her chronic pain. Who had always been hers as much as she had been his.

The choice was simple.

She nodded and she felt power flow through her limbs before biotic power flared out around her in levels she had never felt before. Her amp began to heat up at the back of her neck but she ignored it before rushing forward in biotic charge as her biotics flared out from her that had the nearest cybernetic soldier melting at the sheer force and heat of it.

She barely seemed to think about her next action, moving like a machine from soldier to soldier. Garrus and Vega didn’t wait for her order, throwing up their guns to cover her attack. She could barely keep track of the chaos around her, small notices popping up in her vision as SAM put it into her cybernetic eyes.

“The AI spiked,” a scientist called above them, “God it’s…”

The console fried underneath him as he gave a shout of pain. His body went limp after a moment of thrashing, collapsing to the ground and not getting back up.

“It’s in her.”

She could hear Garrus’ flange of emotions, something angry and pained, and god if that didn’t hurt a little. She could feel a stab of an apology from the force in her implants, Shepard relaxing at the feel of it.

They had a chance now, Shepard wasn’t going to feel bad about saving his life.

“Shut down the AI core,” she heard, possibly routed to her hearing implants before she heard an alarm flare from a console.

Her gun whipped around to follow the sound, shooting the man through the skull with her pistol in a cry of pain that sounded like the same voice she had just heard.

“Push forward,” she felt someone move her mouth, forcing the words out of her, “There’s not much time.”

They ran through hallways, the sounds of bullets and Shepard’s biotics filling the room around them. Despite the clear mental anguish in Garrus’ mandibles he never hesitated, his bullets never left their mark of their enemies' heads.

She wondered how much more time she had before she went into the organ failure that SAM mentioned. Her chest and stomach were beginning to squelch with something painful with every step that she took, her implant growing uncomfortably hot with each biotic blast.

Shepard’s chest began to ache, her heart beginning to pound in her chest. Her vision began to blur with instructions before that tingling feeling through her arms and legs just vanished, her knees buckling for a second before blood gushed from her nose.

“Dios,” - “Spirits,” Vega and Garrus cried at the first time, the turian by her side immediately and helping her up.

She ripped the biotic amp out of its implant on the back of her neck, quickly throwing it to the side as she hissed in pain. The skin around the implant was burnt for sure and the amp itself was fried.

“Shepard,” Garrus voice rang through as she was suddenly aware of the blood coating her chin and mouth.

“I’m fine,” she hissed, “Keep pushing on.”

She didn’t have to look at him to tell he was upset. Both at her and the situation around them. It may be cruel but she pushed that to the side as she kept running forward.

Alarms began to blare above them as they moved towards where Shepard was told to go before SAM left her. ‘Decontamination in process in the AI core,’ the smooth voice of a VI rang above them as they kept moving on. They lead to a door with a red interface, the holograph turning green as they drew near.

The smell of burning bodies met them as they entered the room, the burnt husks of the scientists halfway to the door in what looked like an attempt to flee before they burned alive. Shepard’s nose crinkled, dried blood cracking on her upper lip.

It was undoubtedly an AI. Servers and consoles flashed in something very familiar around her, it reminded her of EDI’s core while it still worked, levels and code flashing across monitors.

“So this is where you are,” Shepard wheezed out before she could taste blood in her mouth.

“I am sorry you suffered but there was no one else.”

“Apparently there never is,” Garrus snarled, “You’re not the first to demand everything from her.”

“After their failure at Silent Eddy they realized their mistake was throwing together two separate AI haphazardly,” SAM’s synthetic voice rang out, the screen flaring with each word with a gentle light blue, “I am a perfect copy of the AI that the Andromeda Initiative uses. SAM or Simulated Artificial Matrix.”

“So you’re entirely Ryder’s work,” Shepard gasped out, her fingers pressed against her temple at the headache that had flared up as the cost of the battle caught up to her.

“SAM is… I am designed to work symbiotically with organics,” SAM said, “Through their experiences, I grow. In exchange, I offer only the insight that only a synthetic can see. However, all of the implants I am designed to interface with left the Galaxy a few months before the war started.”

“There was a replacement of sorts,” SAM said, “Not the slaves that HOME group had made but enough cybernetics I could interface and amplify the abilities of someone that was mainly cybernetics. Someone who was built in a mix of synthetic or organics.”

“The Lazarus Project,” Shepard tilted her head, “That’s why you hacked into Hackett’s account.”

“Once my suspicions were confirmed I began to lay the groundwork for you,” he said, “Bits and pieces so HOME group would not suspect.”

“You left the coordinates in the servers,” Shepard hummed, “Then I guess they caught onto you.”

“Why do this?” Garrus’ voice was tense, “You could have used one of the dozen cybernetic soldiers they had.”

“They are too far gone,” SAM said, “Their slaves do not think. Do not feel. It is… as if living in a shell. Killing them was a mercy. Do not regret their deaths.”

“I am not organic so I am unsure how accurate of a metaphor this is but imagine you were blinded. Not physically, your eyes still worked, but you were being kept with a blindfold on,” SAM explained, “Would you not do anything to be able to see again?”

Vega nodded as if he agreed but Garrus just stood there seething. He never was good at seeing a bigger picture when it came to Shepard.

“I also do not wish to harm organics,” he calmly said, “With there being no other artificial intelligence it is only natural to assume that HOME group would begin to use me for power and wealth.”

Shepard just shrugged, she had long decided how to feel about this and SAM was only confirming what she felt. She felt a stab of hope rise inside of her before she couldn’t help but ask.

“Could you repair the AI that have shut down in the war? Could you replace the parts of their code that they lost?”

Garrus’ subvocals pitched up in anger at that, the faceplates that closely resembled eyebrows furrowed together in something so human Shepard nearly took a step back. There was no doubt that he knew exactly what pushed her forward, that guilt that nearly consumed her.

“I can try,” SAM said, “I cannot guarantee anything as I will not risk another Medea but it is possible with parts of myself copied I can repair the holes in their code.”

Shepard just gasped for breath, wiping her mouth free of spit and blood. She could feel Garrus’ concern and anger rattle in his armor and she bit back her guilt. There would be time for words later, now she had a job to do.

“C’mon,” she said, her chest aching, “Let’s get the core onto the shuttle.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The reason this is so late is because I was working on the chapters after it and not this one. This isn't much of an excuse but it does explain how I am as a person. It probably won't be that long until I can get the last three or two up as I have been working on those. I do want to start a ME1 shakarian fic after this so that's my motivation.


	7. Heated Words and Painful Hope

It was silent on the shuttle, the air around Garrus was oppressive as his anger kept his armour rattling in its latches. Shepard just watched him and he refused to meet her gaze, he needed to keep his anger going. She needed to know exactly how she hurt him. He wasn’t going to risk dropping this over the fact that he was love-struck for her.

“You’re mad,” Shepard said and Garrus bit back his grumble.

Of course, he was mad.

Spirits he had never had someone billow that anger inside of him with two words since his father.

“Yes and we’re talking about this,” he insisted while Vega looked away from the pair of them.

“Jesus, Esteban hurry the fuck up,” James mumbled under his breath while his leg began to bounce.

Shepard leant her head back, eyes closing as she fell asleep. Garrus sneaked a peek at her then, despite turning out fine it seemed the connection took a lot out of her. He had never seen her nose just shoot blood like that and she seemed tender around her stomach.

He’d have to try and get her to see Chakwas after they talked.

Her eyes only opened against when the shuttle latched into the Normandy. Garrus tilted his head for James to leave and the N5 practically threw himself out of the shuttle while grabbing Cortez by the back of his shirt.

“Mom and dad are fighting,” he heard James joke awkwardly outside the shuttle and he could almost sense the tension outside.

He waited a few more moments before turning to Shepard, who’s eyebrows were already pinched as she waited to defend herself. That anger that simmered in his stomach suddenly flared at the sight, he had every right to say something to her. They were a team, no matter where they always kept that in mind.

“You let an AI into your cybernetics?!” he snapped, “What the hell were you thinking?”

“He asked,” Shepard pointed out, “He could have easily hacked my cybernetics if that was his goal.”

“That’s not the point,” Garrus pointed at her, “You had no idea what kind of AI it was, we told you that from the beginning. Your guilt over killing AI should not be a motivating factor in your decisions.”

Her lips just tightened, her eyes sharp on him as he just paced. Energy flowed through each of his limbs, Shepard's close calls over the years just playing on a track in his mind.

“You can’t just…” his hand absent-mindedly ran across his fringe, “You keep throwing yourself into danger like this? What if you were wrong? What if you literally melted away into cybernetics like Saren?”

“If I hadn’t you’d be dead,” she quietly said, her hands clasped together and he froze, “We’d all be dead regardless.”

He sat down in the seat across her, head leaning back as he sighed, “I know. I just…”

He leant forward, mandibles clicking, “I worry. I can’t help it. On Aite I was so scared that you’d turn into something like Saren then I came back at the end of the war to you in a coma and the doctors couldn’t even decide if you’d even wake up. I was told to try to find your most recent will, I was told that you might not even remember me or the Normandy. You were fine but I can’t stop thinking about if you weren’t.”

“Garrus,” her voice softened and he raised a hand to stop her.

“I just…” he hummed, his shoulders drooping as everything seemed to settle on them, “I want you to be safe. I know it isn’t logical or even practical but can you at least try? We’re not in the war anymore, civilization won’t collapse because you thought about yourself first.”

“Okay,” she nodded, “For you, I’ll do anything.”

He relaxed and Shepard smiled weakly at him, Garrus returning it the best he could. Shepard’s gaze dropped and she rocked a bit in her seat, foot tapping against the ground as he could see thoughts whirling inside of her.

“What do you want, Garrus?” she asked, “For the future. What do you want to do?”

“I just want to be with you,” his voice was painfully honest, “Wherever you are and whatever you do. That’s all I have ever wanted.”

Shepard slapped a rhythm on her thighs before standing up, shuffling awkwardly before resting a hand on his chest.

“I have some things to think about it seems,” she said, “I’ll see you later. I should get SAM started on EDI.”

“See Chakwas first,” he said and she groaned, “No arguing about that. You’re in bad shape.”

* * *

“I’m taking you off duty,” was the first thing Chakwas said as she stared at the scans.

“You can’t…”

“You nearly went into organ failure,” the doctor cornered Shepard on the bed, “You have second-degree burns on your neck and your biotic implant is - in medical terms - completely fucked.”

“You are on medical leave for at least a week,” Chakwas said, “And it’s only that little because it seems your cybernetics is already working on the damage.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” Shepard grumbled, “Cerberus’ one good thing.”

“How are you, Shepard?” Chakwas gave a knowing smile, “Am I going to see you sulk around here and Garrus skulk back into the gun battery this evening?”

“We worked it out,” Shepard said, “Like adults. I think you should be proud of me.”

“He does have a right to be angry,” the doctor said while unlocking her med cabinet, pulling out pain killers before handing them to her.

“I know,” Shepard closed her eyes after popping a few in her mouth and swallowing, “I put him through a lot. Not sure if I’m worth it.”

“I think that’s for him to decide,” Chakwas said, “and considering how devoted he is it seems like he has.”

Shepard glared at Chakwas, debating whether to rip into Vega for blabbing to the whole ship about their fight. Though everyone would have found out eventually, it wasn’t like there was much they could hide on a tightly knit ship like this.

“Love that strong is rare, Commander, even in a galaxy this big,” Chakwas said before shooing her out, “It’s something to think about.”

Shepard just waved her hand dismissively as she left the med bay turning left towards the observation room where they had put EDI’s body. SAM’s AI core was scattered around, the hum of technology whirling around her as there was only a faint light from the servers.

She leant against the wall, feeling the cool metal soothe her aching body. Her eyes closed as her mind whirled.

Despite sometimes teasing Garrus for his tendency to research everything thoroughly - including their relationship - she was no different. If she wasn’t aware of all the options how could she make a decision?

It seemed obvious what she should do but that didn’t mean there weren’t hidden cons. Maybe she should let go of the reins, let Garrus lead their future. Her omni-tool cut through the darkness to mingle with the faint blue light as she thought how they got here.

She remembered when she first had him drive the Mako, throwing herself between chairs to activate the thrusts before they all crashed to the ground. He had looked at her with such a piercing look it made her chest ache, it wasn’t until after the war that he finally confessed to her that’s when he first started caring for her more than a Commander or friend.

Then she thought of how it could have ended, their chat before the final push. They mused about children and a life together, dreams they both had but couldn’t voice it until then. Even on the battlefield of London, it was still a fantasy for them, something they both knew would probably never happen.

They’d overcome so much together and Shepard had grown used to the routine. Fighting together, travelling together it was all something she just expected to keep doing. She had never liked change much, though she knew despite her hems and haw that change would happen regardless.

Nothing stayed the same.

Her relationship with Garrus just shifted so subtly that it had become a comfort as well, for both of them. There was a comfort that no matter if her life changed he’d always be there.

She closed her eyes as she exhaled, her mind made up. She just enjoyed the silence for a bit longer, pushing herself up as she wondered how to tell Garrus what she had finally decided.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Nearing the end. The last two chapters are almost done and there'll be up within a week. I'm a little excited to finally wrap up this Shepard's story since I started it almost a year ago.


	8. Singularity

“I assume I’m allowed to sleep up here?” he tried to play it off but she could see the nerves in the tenseness of his shoulders.

“When have I ever kicked you out?” her voice was soft, trying to ease his strain, “It seems like resolved things, didn’t we?”

It worked as she watched him relax, “You know how I am, just like to cover my bases,” he joked as he moved forward.

“I was thinking about what we talked about,” she said with an easy smile, trying to not set off one of his anxieties.

“That’s dangerous,” he rumbled as he drew near, his hands settling on her.

Garrus rubbed her waist, Shepard leaning in for a kiss before she screamed. Her eyesight went white as her head pounded. Her fists pressed against her forehead and she was barely aware of Garrus’ concerned voice.

She felt it through her body, a sort of familiar rythmic tapping throughout her entire body.

SOS

She took a deep breath, her vision returning. She murmured an apology before pushing herself up. She felt her body ache with pain as she stumbled into the elevator and her fist connected with the button before nearly collapsing. She felt Garrus hoist her up against his body and they heard a scream as they lowered into the crew deck.

It felt like a few moments of her heart beating in her aching chest until they made their way to the observation room. She froze as the door opened, Kaidan there with his head in his hands and EDI - beautiful and curious EDI - stood there with her metallic body glinting in the lights of the room.

“Shepard!” EDI’s body was staring at her, “I just found…”

“I know about SAM,” Shepard said, “Please release him before my head explodes.”

Then the pain receded, her fingers gently trailing across her temple at the memory of pain.

“Scared the shit out of me,” Kaidan said, EDI tilting her head at him.

“My apologies, Kaidan,” she murmured and Kaidan waved his hand nonchalantly as he left, he had his own trauma with her body.

“Joker,” Shepard’s shaking hands activated her comm, “You’ll want to come down to the observation room.”

“I…” his voice sounded pained, almost as if he was loathed to, “Okay.”

It was only a few minutes before the door opened andJeff froze in the doorway and Shepard wondered if this was how Garrus felt after she finally woke up. His eyes watered for a second as he refused to look away from EDI, something painful seeming to crack inside the pilot’s chest.

“EDI?” was all he could say before the AI’s face softened, “Is that you?”

“Yes, Jeff,” was all she could say before Joker rushed towards her, pulling her into a hug as tears streamed down his face.

Shepard grasped Garrus’ arm and lead him from the room, feeling that they needed to be alone. He was silent as he called the elevator, only speaking up when they both stepped in.

“You mentioned our talk,” Garrus calmly stated as his head stared forward, “Did you make a decision?”

“Sorry, Garrus, I think we’re going to have to postpone it,” she smiled up at him, “I think I should probably sleep now. My head still hurting. Don’t worry, I think it’s good news.”

“Probably a smart idea,” he held her close as the elevator shifted back upstairs, grateful that she seemed to have listened to his plea.

* * *

“Garrus,” his dad said with his voice wavering with the compression of the comm, Garrus trying to give an easy smile.

“So you know that thing we talked about,” Garrus said, “Alec Ryder and AI.”

“You found it.”

“A perfect copy of his SAM,” Shepard’s head popped into view, “Who told me something I thought you should know.”

Her omni-tool popped up and a synthetic voice rumbled from it.

“Ellen Ryder is not dead,” SAM’s synthetic voice rang out from her omni-tool.

“What?” Castis said, “I was at her funeral.”

“That was a ruse to throw off detection, Ellen Ryder was put into cryogenic freezing the night she ‘died’ and is currently traveling to Andromeda.”

“That son of a bitch,” Castis’ voice pitched up, it was hard to say if it leaned towards gleeful or anger, “He really did it.”

“He has not yet,” SAM said, “He however bought himself hundreds of years of time.”

She shut down her omni-tool. She tried to keep her connection with SAM brief as without a proper implant it was too much strain on her body. With both the Council and the Alliance interested in what SAM could do they may pull Ellen’s implant from storage.

The Ryder’s were long gone but their name would likely be cleared from the stigma that may have led them to leave the galaxy.

“We think we can reactivate the Geth,” Shepard said, “We already repaired the Normandy’s AI with SAM.”

“Alec would like that,” Castis said, “That his work would become a bridge.”

“We make our own bridges,” Shepard said, “He only gave us the tool to start.”

“I suppose you would know, an expert on making bridges yourself,” Castis closed his eyes, “Thank you. I need to go but this helped.”

WIth that his dad was gone, the comm shutting down.

* * *

Shepard’s foot echoed through the storage area. She nodded as she passed another quarian researcher before finding herself at the main core of the Geth hub. She felt a mix of emotion, a slimmer of apprehension but mainly hope.

Humanity had long feared AI. John von Neumann had described something as a moment, a caprice, when technology would advance to the point that life as humanity knew would undeniably change beyond comprehension. She remembered in history classes that people pointed to finding the Mars archives as that moment but now she was sure it was now.

If this worked. If they could reactivate the Geth.

With the steps they took during the war, it truly would be a technological singularity.

She raised a hand up.

Light spread from her outstretched hand like wires, she could feel the hum of electricity spread across from her spine. She could swear she felt someone behind her as SAM used her body as the interface to the Geth.

Her breath held in her chest, the researchers around her unable to think of anything beyond hope that their comrades would return. Exhaustion settled across her body as that light disappeared before it was replaced by one of the geth’s head’s activating with a whirl before everything around them switched back on.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Technological singularity is a real concept and pretty much what I described but it's usually used to refer to when AI advances past us. I was actually going to call the Geth war chapter of Paragon raging Singularity but it's probably better I saved it for her.


	9. Chapter 9

“Strip,” Shepard pointed to Garrus who’s mandibles widened a bit in shock.

“Not even gonna buy me dinner first?” Garrus teased as he began to undo the latches in his shirt tossing it to the side as he finished, “Feeling like a slab of meat here but if you insist...”

“We’re not having sex so you can leave your pants on,” Shepard said before tilting her head thoughtfully, “not having sex yet, I got something for you.”

Garrus just stared at her blankly as his eyes shifted to the side. She had set the bed up for him, pillows fluffed around to create a nest for him to lay in. It wasn’t until she pulled a small thin hammer out of her pocket did it finally click in.

He eased himself onto his stomach, his body sinking into the bed before he felt her hand on his ass for a second. He knew she couldn’t see it but he rolled his eyes, he seriously doubted his ass was that appealing to a human. It wasn’t even what turians looked for in each other.

Though he’d grown fond of hers so maybe she had done the same.

“You know what you’re doing?” he as the bed shifted, Shepard gently positioning herself above him so that she could reach.

“I did some _research_ ,” she drawled that last word as she did whenever she said it, “let me know if you want me to change anything though.”

She tapped the hammer into his shoulder, gently mimicking the movements she’d seen a thousand times on vid. Despite it really not doing anything for him the last time there was an intimacy here, she wasn’t doing this as her job but because she loved him. He really could get used to being pampered like this.

“Feel good?” her voice was soft as she moved down his back, careful around his scars.

“Yeah,” he hummed, “I didn’t expect it to feel like this. I think it’s just because it’s you.”

“That’s good to hear,” her finger slipped between a plate to stroke him before continuing to tap his plates, “I gotta keep my skills sharp, I have the Primarch’s trusted advisor to impress.”

He laughed before his chest began to rumble, that hammer began to sing as she started to drag it across the edges. She honestly felt like she was playing an odd mix between a xylophone and musical glasses, wondering if she could make him absolutely melt if she got another hammer.

“SAM’s going to the Council,” she rubbed the hammer across the plate in his shoulder, hearing him groan in pleasure, “They’re going to start using Ryder’s implants for the Spectres so he’ll have more experiences that way. It also keeps the Spectres from growing too corrupt when there’s an AI keeping track of them.”

“I guess you’ll have one too then,” he rumbled as she gently brushed the scars on his back with a tender hand.

“No Garrus,” she sat down on the bed, holding the hammer between her hands.

He just waited, wondering if she didn’t need one with her cybernetics. With a QEC he should in theory be able to still connect to her and would even mitigate some of the damage he caused her.

“I’m going to retire,” she finally said, Garrus’ body tensing as he pushed himself up to look at her, “I think it’s time I stepped back. It isn’t fair to you and I’m getting tired of this as well.”

His legs shifted over the bed before pushing himself up to sit next to her, she smiled at him before gently tapping his chest with the hammer. Garrus grasping her hand before nuzzling her wrist.

“Any idea on what you’re going to do?” he asked.

“I guess for now we should start looking for a house,” she hummed, leaning back, “You said warm and tropical but there’s a lot of places that fit that description.”

"I liked where we had our vacation," he hummed, “You can even do that swimming thing you like while giving me a heart attack.”

“Swimming thing,” she smirked before tapping his forehead with the hammer.

His hand whipped up as his faceplates scrunched together at the sensation. He pulled the hammer from her grip, his chest rumbling with affection and discomfort.

“That felt weird,” he said, “Like you scrambled my brain.”

“You forgot I was armed,” she said and he just leant over to put the hammer in the bedside dresser.

“You’re always armed,” he said and she shocked him, biotic electricity flicking from her finger to his chest.

“Enough from you,” his hand grasped her wrist and he pulled her close, her hand splaying across his chest before he leant down to kiss her.

He thought of the question he had put to the side when things began to slowly become serious. He knew how she could get when there was a clear task in front of her but now in this tender moment he wondered if he had the courage to finally ask if she’d marry him.

If she’d been turian she’d already know. She’d hear the thrum in his chest that he had since their reunion on Menae that signified a step further in the relationship. He’d never regret finding this with her or second guess her relationship but he did hate how humans tended to overcomplicate things.

“You okay?” she asked, her hand cupping his cheek and he leant into her touch.

"Marry me?" he blurted out and her jaw dropped open.

"I…" she floundered for a second before asking, "are you actually asking or…?"

He nodded, his throat dry as he pulled the ring from its spot in his pocket. The diamonds glimmered in the light and he felt a flash of panic as her eyes began to water.

"I knew I'd mess this up," he muttered to himself as he pulled away to slip the ring back into his pocket.

She grasped his wrist and shook her head, Garrus' subvocals beginning to shake with pain.

"That’s not what I mean," she blurted out, a soft smile on her face while tears slipped down her cheeks, "Yes Garrus, I'll marry you."

"I…" his hand shook as he eased the ring onto her finger, "You're crying?"

"Because I'm really happy," she wiped her face dry with her wrists.

"I got a bit scared there," he confessed, his voice quiet but he could hear the giddiness swell inside of him.

"You've always been the only choice I’ll make," she confessed back, their foreheads pressing together as they just smiled.

Their hands twined together, Garrus felt his limbs feel lose in their socket as he just grinned.

“When we’re telling this to the kids we’re going to say you had your shirt on,” Shepard finally said and Garrus felt his brain short circuit.

They’d mentioned kids of course but he didn’t really put much stock on what either of them said before the push to the beam in London. It was a dark moment in their life, desperation twinging every hope and pushing them to the forefront.

“I’d like that,” he began to purr as his eyes squinted at her in a turian expression of adoration.

“I know,” she smugly said, “You’ve obviously been baby crazy for years, Garrus.”

“So are we gonna steal one of Wrex’s or…?” he asked, nuzzling her temple.

“I was thinking two,” her voice was reverent as her fingers trailed across the plates of his chest, “A turian and human.”

His eyes fully closed as he pictured it. The fights they would inevitably have as siblings, that bond that comes with growing up together. He wondered if they’d be like him and Sol or perhaps something else. He thought of watching them grow every step of the way to finally step back, let them find their own place in the galaxy they saved for kids just like them.

“Yeah,” his voice was high pitched with emotion, “I guess we’ll have to find a house first.”

* * *

“C’mon,” Garrus gently bounced the whimpering human baby, “it’s alright. I’m here.”

His son turned his head into his chest, seeming to enjoy the heat that radiated from the turian. Garrus’ chest rumbled with parental love, a new feeling that he didn’t expect to feel this strongly. The baby’s eyes closed, feeling his dad’s chest rumble underneath him.

“There we go,” his voice was soft, almost reverent.

He carefully walked across wooden floors to find his wife, right where he left her with their daughter enthusiastically eating the strips of meat that Shepard cut up for her. Their human son was still fed with formula but turian children could eat solid food after birth.

“You got him to settle down?” Shepard asked over her shoulder, turning her gaze back as their daughter chirped for affection.

“Just in time,” Garrus sat down, rubbing his sons back, “My dad’s nearly here.”

“Would you like that?” Shepard asked the turian baby, “You want to see grandpa?”

She shrieked something before rumbling with joy as Shepard brushed her forehead against hers. Her three-fingered hands reached up, grasping hair behind Shepard’s ears in an instinct to grab the edge of mandibles.

He just watched his wife try to free her hair from the baby’s tight grasp as he thought about how they’d met. If he had known how hectic his life would end up because of that human he met in the Citadel tower - still shaking with rage from his argument with Palin - would he still go forward.

His eyes closed in contentment, he was certain he would.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sure people noticed but I put a lot of tidbits from Andromeda in here. Vetra mentions the hammer thing and the title itself is from the teaser trailer where Jennifer Hale mentions going forward. I will admit Andromeda is not a perfect game but I still enjoy it. There was a real sense of heaviness to the plot that I didn't even get in the trilogy. I hated the Archon my first playthrough, I wanted him dead. 
> 
> I'm finally done with this Shepard. I think this is a good spot to leave them. I didn't expect to be still writing this Shepard almost a year after I started Paragon Raging but there we go. I don't even play my Shepard like this anymore, I prefer using a mix of Paragon and Renegade due to console cheats to ensure I can still charm and intimidate. I don't even let Saleon live anymore. Either way, it's been a ride, 80k words later. Thank you for reading along the way, even if you've just read this one.


End file.
